


What Needs to Be Done

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Series: Shadowhunters Re-Watch Fics! Codas, Scene Fills, etc. [8]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s01e08 Bad Blood, Gen, Introspection, POV Raphael Santiago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29598702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Raphael sits in the basement of the Institute, trying to talk Valentine’s daughter, of all people, through her options in regards to Simon’s transitional state. And all he’s getting for his trouble is strife and condescension.
Relationships: Camille Belcourt & Raphael Santiago, Clary Fray & Raphael Santiago, Clary Fray & Simon Lewis, Raphael Santiago & Jace Wayland
Series: Shadowhunters Re-Watch Fics! Codas, Scene Fills, etc. [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108703
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	What Needs to Be Done

Raphael knows what he’s risking when he brings Simon’s body back to the New York Institute. He’s no fool. He’s aware of the alarms he’s setting off by his very presence; aware of the fact that they might stake first and ask questions later when the Shadowhunters go to investigate the unknown presence on their property only to find him with a dead mundane; aware that he’s risking _war_ with the Nephilim if they don’t hear him out long enough to know _he_ isn’t their enemy... but he does it anyway. In part because it’s the right thing to do, but also because he feels more than a little responsible.

“The only reason Simon ever tasted Camille’s blood is because of you! You kidnapped him, you drug him to Hotel Dumort, you... you delivered him to Camille!” Clary shouts, and he can’t deny that her words are true. He saved Simon’s life once before, handing him over to Jace and the others at the Dumort, but he couldn’t manage to save it a second time. What he’s doing now feels like too little, too late, but it’s also all he _can_ do. It’s the _best_ he can do even if he knows while watching Clary’s open grief that it isn’t enough.

He has reasons beyond his own guilt, too. Returning Simon is one of the only things he can think of that will save his clan from Camille.

Raphael has the support of the other vampires, finally able to convince them that she’s crossed too many lines, but that will mean nothing without making a show of it to the Shadowhunters. He needs to prove to them that the clan doesn’t stand with Camille, that they don’t support what she’s done here. In the same measure, he needs to show Camille that she can’t simply get away with following every little whim just because she’s in charge. He’s seen her at her lowest, and while she isn’t quite there yet this time around, she’s clearly heading there again fast. He can’t risk the fallout of standing by and watching it happen, not knowing the danger it would bring not only himself but the clan he’s grown to care for.

So here he is in the basement of the Institute, trying to talk _Valentine’s daughter,_ of all people, through her options in regards to Simon’s transitional state. And all he’s getting for his trouble is strife and condescension.

“...the ugly, blood-sucking, coffin-dwelling kind,” Jace says, the tail-end of his comment directed pointedly at Raphael. Raphael manages to put on a bravado as he replies, meeting Jace’s jibe with detached amusement, unwilling to give the slightest hint of the way the words affect him. He bites his tongue when he wants to reply that the joke’s on them since they couldn’t possibly hate what he is more than he does. He’s come to terms with it for the most part but the self-loathing he felt from the moment he realized what he turned into all those decades ago never completely left him, and he suspects it never will.

In fact, he isn’t even sure whether he’d prefer for Clary to decide to turn Simon or kill him outright. This isn’t a fate he’d wish on anyone against their will. He doesn’t say that, though. It isn’t his place to influence her one way or the other, simply to provide her what facts he can and leave the choice up to those who know Simon best. He wants to help, and the best way for him to do that is to remain as neutral as possible. This is an act of good faith, after all, and if the Nephilim think for even a second he’s trying to sway them one way or the other he has no doubt they’ll be immediately suspicious of his intentions.

He meant what he said earlier, about being a good Christian - he has morals, principles that he lives by, and lessons of faith he desperately clings to in his darker hours. He tries to be a good person, the best he can given the circumstances of a life he didn’t choose for himself. When he’s met with this reaction time and time again it's difficult not to waver, to wonder why he even bothers if his efforts will forever be in vain. Raphael is quick to shake those thoughts from his head, ignoring the temptations of taking the low road.

It isn’t easy, given the reactions of Jace, Isabelle, and Clary to the idea of Simon becoming a vampire. The immediate chorus of ‘no’s from the Shadowhunters at the mere proposal of completing the transition is expected, of course. But when Clary labels both options of either staking or turning Simon as ‘ _reprehensible’_ , he has to admit that one hurts a little more. He’d hoped, maybe naively, that her detachment from the Shadow World before this point may leave her more open to the idea. Instead, she’s quick to fall into line with the same thinking as the rest of them.

Raphael is once again reminded of why vampires like Camille do the things that they do - that some people can only be told they’re _reprehensible_ so many times before they become the monsters they’re labeled.

He should probably consider himself lucky that he’s been in the Institute’s Sanctuary this long without being killed himself, given his present company’s opinion of him and his kind. Still, he stays and he _tries_ because it’s right and because of his guilt, but most importantly because it’s what _needs_ to be done.

And if nothing else, Raphael Santiago will always be the sort of person who does what needs to be done to protect the people he cares about.

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com) and also on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/By_The_Angell)! <3 )


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